In World Cup Football on Saturday, Spain beat Paraguay one-nil, and Germany crushed Argentina 4-0 in the last two quarter-final matches. Both Spain and Germany joined Uruguay and the Netherlands in the semi-finals which will be played on Tuesday.At Ellis Park in Johannesburg, Spain striker David Villa fired his team into the last four stage with a late goal against Paraguay. Villa struck the winner in the 83rd minute. It was also his fifth goal in the on-going World Cup and made him the highest scorer in the tournament. European Champions Spain are in the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time since 1950.Earlier, the game saw both goal-keepers save second-half penalties. In the 59th minute, Paraguay missed a golden opprtunity to take the lead when Spain captain Iker Casillas saved a penalty from striker Oscar Cardozo. There was more drama at the other end of the pitch minutes later when Spain were awarded a penalty. Xabi Alonso netted high to goal-keepr Justo Villar's right , sparking celebrations on the Spain bench. But the referee disallowed the goal and made him retake it after players from both sides encroached into the area. Alonso's second attempt was saved.In the earlier match in Cape Town, Germany's incredible 4-0 win over Argentina, sent home a Latin American World Cup favourite for the second time in two days. The Argentines had become a hot tip to win the tournament after five-time champions Brazil were ousted by the Netherlands. Miroslav Klose scored twice for the winners, while Thomas Muller and Arne Friedrich shared the other two goals. Klose who won his 100th cap in the match, brought his personal World Cup tally to 14 goals in three tournaments, level with Germany's Gerd Muller. The German striker is one goal shy of equalling Brazilian Ronaldo's World Cup record of 15. Germany will meet Spain in the Second Semi-final in Durban on Wednesday. The first semi-final will be played between Uruguay and the Netherlands in Cape Town on Tuesday. Both matches will begin at Midnight.
News On AIR | July 4, 2010 1:54 PM
World Cup: First semi-final between Uruguay and Netherlands on Tuesday